We will never know how many times it happens

[ihookem]

Ya just never know where you are going to kick up a buck. I have 4 ac here where I live . The back 2.5 ac. is brush, planted pines , spruce , poplars and other stuff that just grows. It is thick in the back part so several years ago I brush hogged a 5' wide path around the back of the land of mine. So , around 4pm I decide to check my trail cam and walk the loop around my land and see if I can kick up a rabbit. Sure enough, Could have shot it. Teach me to not bring the .22. As I walked a bit more I notice a trail , so , I backtracked to see if I could see another rabbit. As I stepped off the trail 20' or so , , a buck explodes out of the patch of pines I planted 10 yrs ago. Had I kept walking the trail there is no doubt in my mind I never would have knew that deer was there. I have walked that trail so many times and only kicked up another deer one time. I was not more than 20' from that deer while on the trail. He had been hanging there a while, 4 beds in 10' or so. Ho many times have we walked right past a deer that knew enough to hold tight? We will never know. Later, ihookem.

[hunter_mike]

That is cool!

[ Post made via Android ]

[Stanley]

You are correct we will never know.

[Buckshot20]

I've seen that a lot hunting with hounds down here. those dogs will be right underneath them when they jump. We've put dogs back in the same spots 4 different times and run 4 different deer. The others would just hold tight.

[ Post made via Android ]

[bigwoodsmn]

We stood at a gate next to the truck in SD... talked for 20 minutes. When we got in the truck, a buck stood up 15 yards away and ran off.

Sometimes I think about blowing loud distress snorts in my Lohman snort call just to see if I can get deer to bust out... ... to see some flags. Anyone tried something like that? Especially in heavy pressured areas?

[ Post made via Android ]

[mheichelbech]

I will never forget 2 different instances in a property I hunted as a teenager where I had jumped 2 different monster bucks while rabbit hunting right by the road...within 20 yards of the road, 1 was in a sinkhole the other was by a bedded by an abandoned building.

Also shot one of my biggest bucks about 75 yards from a road....nobody else would hunt there as it was too close to the road.

[ Post made via iPhone ]

[Dewey]

Can't tell you how many times especially when scouting that I just get that gut feeling a deer is bedding nearby so stop to scan the area when suddenly a deer will bust out. Pretty sure if I kept moving away even at short distances the deer would never budge.

[ Post made via iPhone ]

[tgreeno]

Also shot one of my biggest bucks about 75 yards from a road....nobody else would hunt there as it was too close to the road.

I jumped a nice 10 pointer out of a spot exactly like this. It's also 60 yards from a field edge many hunter walk to get into a back field.

[wickedbruiser]

Yep. you never know. It happens ALL the time and you just don't know it. What opened my eye up to this is the time i walked a path to make a big loop around to a thick bedding area only to witness a buck come right from the path I first started off at. He had to be bedded just inside the path and walked right by him.

[matt1336]

Many many many times in the past. That's what make deer drives fun- especially in the cattails. After time, beast knowledge and reps you start expecting them to jump up in certain spots/senarios. They still surprise you now and again. It's one of the biggest rushes in hunting- jump shooting deer. Imo.

[ Post made via iPhone ]

[Motivated]

A couple of years ago while spring scouting with Dad we were walking in on an access trail. Dad picks up a phone call from Mom as we're walking. There was an intersection and we walked straight through, but a small doe was 5 yards off the path if that. She was just watching us as we walked right past. I couldn't get Dad's attention as he was on the phone. So we just kept walking and I was watching her. As soon as our back was slightly turned to her she got up and quietly moved off. She knew she was out of our visual field, except I was watching her with my head turned.

Dad never believed me when I told him that a few minutes later.

[ Post made via Android ]

[Jonny]

I was hunting with my dad and uncle in october this year. Decided to loop around and do a quick scout on my way out to the truck. 50 yards from the trucks, and close enough to hear my uncle and another guy talking, I jumped a doe and fawn. If I was a right handed shot I would have had a easy 20 yard chip shot on the doe. They never knew the deer were there and I am convinced those deer bed there because people park and walk the same way every time, every weekend. Neither believed me when I said I saw the deer where I said I did as nobody had seen a deer out hunting in that area besides the one spike I passed up. Next year I am planning on sitting there for a morning hunt early season if I get a doe tag